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Table-Napkins

Pradichaya Gafaae Poonyarit:

A Thai soprano from head to toe with an attitude of a no-nonsense entrepreneur with innovative ideas and, sometimes, shocking approaches, who fits the phrase "been there, done that" perfectly, and is looking forward to new challenges. A leader, a teacher, a wife, a mother, and, a chef-ME-NOT. All makes a person who turns every situation into a learning experience, and, is super charged with positive energy.

Table-Napkins:
A Short Story

Table-Napkins: A short article or short story that originated from one random thought that occurred one late evening, due to one woman's lack of sleep.

"It really happened one night, when all I wanted to do was to throw away all the napkins that scattered everywhere on my desk."

table-napkins | short article | short story | random | thought - That's about it.

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Why do we always run out of table napkins?

May 6th, 2010 1:09am

Aka "Where have all the (table) napkins gone?"

We, in this case, is meant for my household members -my family and me. Today I feel an urge to address the topic of table napkins. An issue so minor it is often simply overlooked.

Table-Napkins A Short Story-La CoffeeMelodie Suite

We are probably just like our next door neighbors, and most of the Americans and the rest of the world's population, who understand the basic economy and how to stretch our dollars. We shop at superstores, clubs, and warehouses. (Sadly, because we do that, our street corners' mom's and pop's stores are forced to disappear. Most moms and pops who do not migrate to Florida end up applying for jobs at super mega discount warehouse stores. -So much for understanding the economy.) Because of that, things that we buy come in super mega giant sizes. I fall into buying "large," because for years it was drilled into my head (thanks to the mass media and my own never-really-got-activated side of the brain) that buying more in quantity = paying less per item. This behavior has become so second nature to me that my brain stops functioning and my body operates on auto pilot while I buy big and pay little. One would think that one doesn't have to visit the stores on a weekly basis just because one buys "more" per trip. -Ha!! Wrong!!! We still go every week, and sometimes more frequently than that. I was afraid to calculate intellectually if we really save money when we buy more. One consolation, or, rather,an excuse, is that, after all, these are "consumer" products. -They are bound to get consumed, one way or another, over time, and, uh.. eventually. And what happens when I get home? The most redundant weekly painful task that I have to endure takes place when I unload and put away mega food and necessities. My dearest husband never complains, but he knows that I hate unloading and putting things away. We have a freezer right in the garage and I guess it helps make it a little easier for frozen items to be transferred right from the back of the van into it. I love my garage freezer. It is like a cross between a treasure chest and a magician's hat. I often get excited at the moment when I lift up the freezer door, because I never know what ingredients will jump out at me. It's quite inspiring actually, since I don't ever have a blueprint for what's on the menu; but, rather, I cook according to what I see (from my freezer and refrigerator). For someone whose daily work is seated in front of a laptop all day and half a night, a trip on my break to the freezer is quite a treat.

So what does this have to do with what happens to my table napkins? Or, maybe I should change the article's title to, "Where have all the (table) napkins gone?" Well, I don't usually have a storage problem with food but tend to get easily irritated of other miscellaneous consumable items. Things like toilet tissues, facial tissues (the kind that gently wipe away tears), paper towels, A4 paper for printing - those boxes are heavy- and, table napkins. At first, we were good about running down to the basement to get a roll of toilet tissue or a stack of table napkins. Then, we realized that we feel "run-down" even at the thought of going down or asking one of the kids to fetch us anything from the basement. -Please note that the use of "we" at this time is only applied to us husband and wife, also, the very same people as "us," the parents, who are constantly going through crisis -which is not necessary mid-life related. Now what? We gradually and steadily created an extra space to "store" the paper goods. It started out in the closet where we hang clothes that need to be pressed or steamed. When we ran out of floor and shelf space inside the closet, we made an extra space out of a corner in the back of the house near the laundry area just for piling our consumable paper goods. Then, on one rainy day my husband started putting them in his office which our children call the library. I'd wait impatiently- and with some degree of anxiety- for the time that the pile of white fluffy paper stuff will go down as we use them up. I must be kidding myself, because when the pile gets smaller and we actually can see the floor again, my husband would do his big shopping. Is it all in my head that I feel he comes back with more stuff than his last trip to the mega super store?

This is when the fast and not-so-thoughtful act of getting a quick-but-temporary fix kicks in. Now, way back when the very first super discount stores started, the advertising campaign behind the idea was, "You save more when you buy more in quantity." We (at least I) thought, "Oh, and we will make FEWER trips to the stores because we buy in bulk, it should last TWICE AS LONG at the least." -Not to mention how we'd save on gas and time..blah..blah...bleh..bleh.

Hahahahaha - Roll over on the floor laughing out loud on a -rather- high pitch soprano laugh. Nahhhh!!!

As it turned out, we ended up consuming twice as much, if not more, since there are so many "comsumable products" lying around. We scoop chips and pour salsa in too large a portion for any one person to eat at one time, and we sit in front of our many inches too-large-for-the-room brand new HDTV. We overuse detergent and other cleaning products just because we have a lot to go through. Our kids- the artistic little ones- tend to go through a lot of paper when their creative juices are running wild. I have a stack of their work that I am supposed to scan and save as digital files. Therefore, most of their unwanted masterpieces get thrown in the trash, anyway. -Grandparents' houses are not the ultimate dumping ground for their artworks, either. Of course, We still visit the mega store at the same frequency. Most of us got pudgy and we spent more money.

So what did I do to the table napkins, since we always have loads and tons of them handy because of the never-ending good bargain from buying in bulk? I do a lot of writing for the Web, and I also deal with designing and creating Web videos and graphic images. When I work, I usually have a few windows open (uh, laptop windows, not the actual windows in the house, although fresh air is a welcome choice). I also have on the desk (real desk, my actual work space that I can touch) a small calculator, an H2 pencil with an eraser still intact, and not chewed (by my husband), my super icy cold ice-water, if early enough in the day- my extremely hot coffee, and, a lot of napkins.

Again, what do I do with those napkins? You might think that I'm a messy coffee drinker and need them for wiping my lips. No, that's not what I do. Instead, I scribble notes on them. Yes, I write on table napkins. What do I write? I write mostly very cool words that come to me that I'd like to keep around to use later. It's like moving them off my hard drive (my head) to prevent running out of space and overloading it (it does happen, I'm not twenty any more) and putting them on a memory card (napkin). I also write down a lot of numbers - pixel sizes of images, video screen resolutions. One would think that I try to come up with Power Ball or Mega Million winning numbers. Sometimes, when I'm far behind, I will write down the order of videos or Web pages that are my top priorities and cross them out as I progress. Before the convenience of Google search I'd try out the spelling of words to "feel" the correct spelling. But why write on napkins and not on paper? To me, I love to print on real paper. I am so fascinated by different kinds of printing papers. In fact, I think I have most of them within reach of my printer. (I buy from mega super stores, remember?) But when it comes to quick scribbling or short-handed writing I prefer the "gentle" feeling of a napkin. I like how I can write eight different topics on one napkin by simply turning it over and unfolding. The best thing is, after I'm finished with all my numbers and notes on a napkin, but before I throw it away, I will use it to wipe a surface, any surface of my desk, printer, reading lamp, etc., and feel the whole awesomeness of "not being wasteful" before I throw it away. Now, I can't do that with writing paper!

Honey, if you read this, I really need to buy another large pack of table napkins. Evidently, I had a lot of ideas that I wrote down, and went overboard with our last inventory. Now, the kids use facial tissues at mealtime. Let's go to a mega super duper warehouse and re-stock before things start snowballing around here.

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The Buzzin' Bubbles!!!!

Bubble Buzz is about the first thought that comes when I get up in the morning, or perhaps sometimes not; Often random, perhaps a few words, or, in some case, a phrase a day.

Words that may be meaningless to some and meaningful to others. A few words or a phrase a day which may or may not be relevent, and, perhaps, not one bit interesting. Chances are, nothing profound may be found here. But who knows if some plain words might turn out to be an inspiration? A reminder? Or, some entertainment on a low level?

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